There were hits and dancing galore on Saturday when the very successful and inaugural Classic Hits Live concert was held at the Mulwala Waterski Club.
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With the temperature dropping a vast amount from the day before the crowd were lapping up the conditions on the grass at the ski club lagoon which was almost full to capacity.
In front of a crowd of more than 2000 people Swanee opened the show, at one stage climbing the barriers to be a part of the crowd part way through his set.
“I just wanted to get amongst the crowd in the rain and bring them to the front, that’s what I’m here to do,” Swanee said.
Backstage the comradery was evident with everyone getting around each other and enjoying the company and music with hugs thrown around as soon as another artist arrived.
Grace Knight of the Eurogliders and Brian Mannix of Uncanny X-Men danced away to Swanee, showing off their acquired dance moves while singing along to ‘Lady’ and ‘Temporary Heartache’.
Pizza and beverages were shared as well as many of the artists enjoying the lake view once their set was complete.
Eurogliders in their colourful outfits then kicked off their 25-minute set with some classic hits that soon had the crowd dancing and singing along, paving the way for Kids in the Kitchen who were just as lively and crowd pleasing.
After a short break Wendy Matthews joined the stage where she belted out some of her tunes while waltzing around the stage, drawing the crowd in.
Veterans to the summer music scene in Mulwala, Psuedo Echo were a crowd favourite with Uncanny X-Men front man Brian Mannix drawing a loud cheer as he strutted on stage and swayed his hips during the bands most popular songs.
After another short interval 1927 took to the stage before the Choirboys hit ‘Run to Paradise’ performed by Choirboys lead singer Mark Gable roused the crowd and Dragon’s ‘April Sun in Cuba’ and ‘Rain’ were sang back to the band with great gusto.
Once Ross Wilson stepped foot on the stage the crowd were as passionate as ever, belting out some of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock’s greatest hits in ‘Eagle Rock’ and ‘Come said the boy’.
When it looked to all be over Ross and Dragon lead singer Mark Williams sang quite possibly the most crowd participated song of the night with Angels classic ‘Am I ever gonna see your face again’ before Ross made way for Mark Gable to take over and sing ‘Long way to the top’ with fellow Mark.
Mulwala WaterSki Club CEO Peter Duncan said the number of people in attendance was terrific with everyone on their best behavior.
“We were very pleased with the result and the crowd that turned up, they were very well behaved,” Peter said.
“We had a smaller crowd than last year but last year was one of our biggest. We had just over 2000 people on Saturday which was our target so that was fantastic.
“Our bar sales were also very strong and under the new concept of Classic Hits Live was fantastic, the changeover of bands was very smooth and it was just an enjoyable day all round.
“We will certainly be doing the concept again next year around the same time after Christmas New Year.”
All artists agreed it was a great way to get together and enjoy each other’s company as they have for many decades and that is was fantastic to play in country towns with crowds that enjoy and participate in their music as much as the local audience did on Saturday.
Get ready to see many of their faces again in Yarrawonga Mulwala and keep the first fortnight of 2020 free for the second Classic Hits Live.
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